Forget-me-nots WIP 2

I've done a fair bit more work on this and it's starting to take shape.  That first WIP scan was a bit too dark.  I must remember to scan and upload in the daylight so that the drawing is accurately represented.  It makes a difference when you compare the screen image to the drawing you see in front of you - duh.  This scan is pretty accurate in all respects.

Not being that familiar with these flowers, I did some research ~ I wanted to check out the shapes and colours for different parts of the flowers from the images available on the net.  I like to represent flowers as correctly as I can and I'm happy now with what I'm doing here.  I also discovered more about these little gems.  The name for them seems to have originated from the old French phrase "ne m'oubliez pas" (don't forget me) and "forget-me-nots" was first used in English for these flowers around 1532.  In Germany the word is "vergissmichnicht" ~ wonderful! Try saying that without your teeth in! (English speakers that is, hehe).  I've been practising saying that word all morning, I love it.  Anyway, in Germany in the old days, it was said that wearers of this flower would not be forgotten by their lovers ... so romantic.  And ... in the USA, the forget-me-not is the State flower of Alaska.  So there you go, it's good to learn something new.

Back to topic then, I've started the background using some of the blues I've used in the flowers plus Dark Green, Emerald Green and Prussian Blue.  I was going to cross-hatch the colours, as I did with the Wild Poppy drawing, but decided to draw rough blocks of colour with muted edges instead.  The important thing here is that the main flowers do not 'fight' with the background for attention.  I could have drawn a simpler muted dark background and let the flowers pop out from that.  However, I want to show these flowers within the context that they usually grow, that is, alongside others the same ... or at least give a hint of that.  As I continue putting in the background, I will see more clearly how to make the central flowers stand forward from that background.  I'm loving the Caran d'Ache and Polychromos pencils on this paper.  To be continued ...